How a cookie recipe tweak led to the demise of NYC ballet dancer, 25

A new lawsuit has claimed that a simple cookie recipe tweak led to the death of a New York City ballet dancer ‘in the prime of her life.’  

Órla Baxendale, 25, died on January 11 from anaphylactic shock after eating Vanilla Florentine Cookies from Connecticut grocery chain Stew Leonard’s that contained ‘undeclared peanuts,’ according to the lawsuit filed last week. 

Ms Baxendale, who is from the UK but lived in New York City, was ‘hyper-vigilant about everything she ate’ and carried an EpiPen. 

But her reaction was so severe that the medication was ineffective, according to the family’s attorney. Ms Baxendale’s parents, Simon and Angela Baxendale, are now seeking damages of at least $15,000.

The suit says that six months before the dancer’s death, Cookies United began notifying the grocers about the ingredient change, urging the chain to reflect the update in the product’s ingredient label.

Órla Baxendale, 25, suffered an allergic reaction to cookies from a Connecticut store so severe that not even her EpiPen could save her, lawyers said. 

The cookies were sold at Stew Leonard’s, a regional grocery store chain in Connecticut, New Jersey, and New York

According to the lawsuit, ‘no less than eleven employees’ of Stew Leonard’s were ‘notified by email of the change in ingredients, including the addition of peanuts to the cookie recipe.

These employees received updated labels with as new ingredient list and nutrition fact panel, ‘which stated that the cookies contained, among other things, peanuts.’  

The cookies had a label for their old recipe, which contained soy nuts rather than peanuts

‘Despite the email notification of these changes, (Stew Leonard’s) ignored the email and never changed the label or the nutrition fact panel and never properly updated the packaging,’ the filing states. 

Cookies United confirmed the claims in a press release, which the lawsuit states was taken off the company website.  

‘Stew Leonard’s claimed in an earlier press release that “The cookies contain peanuts, which was an ingredient not disclosed to Stew Leonard’s by the manufacturer,”‘ the statement read, per the lawsuit. 

‘Stew Leonard’s was notified by Cookies United in July of 2023 that this product now contains peanuts and all products shipped to them have been labeled accordingly. This product is sold under the Stew Leonard’s brand and repackaged at their facilities.’

‘The incorrect label was created by, and applied to, their product by Stew Leonard’s.’

Ms Baxendale was in Milford, Connecticut preparing for a role in a dance company’s adaptation of Alice in Wonderland at a social gathering when she ate the cookies 

The original label, which was from the old recipe, stated that there were soy nuts in the cookies. These are distinct and do not trigger a reaction in people allergic to peanuts.

Shortly after Ms Baxendale’s death, Stew Leonard’s recalled the Vanilla Florentine cookies due to peanuts not being included on the ingredient list. 

The recall applied to any of those particular cookies that were sold in Stew Leonard’s Danbury and Newington, Connecticut, stores from November 6 through December 31, 2023. 

The cookies Ms Baxendale ate had a best-buy date of January 5, 2024. 

‘Órla was truly one of a kind. She was a beautiful, radiant, brave soul who always believed she would achieve her biggest dreams – and that’s exactly what she did. She danced her way across the world and lived life to the fullest every day,’ a statement from the family said. 

‘We will never recover from the pain of having her taken from us so soon, in the prime of her life. But we are also so proud to call her our daughter and sister, and to have had the privilege of sharing 25 years with such an incredibly special person.

‘It is incomprehensible that allergies can take lives in 2024, and we want to urge everyone to educate yourselves and those around you about anaphylaxis, how to use EpiPens and the early warning signs for severe allergic reactions.’

‘It is incomprehensible that allergies can take lives in 2024, and we want to urge everyone to educate yourselves and those around you about anaphylaxis, how to use EpiPens and the early warning signs for severe allergic reactions,’ Ms Baxendale’s family said in a statement 

The CDC estimates that one in three US adults has at least one allergy, and six percent of adults in children – nearly 20million people – have a food allergy. 

About 2.5 percent of American children, or 1.8millon, are allergic to peanuts, and around 20 percent outgrow the allergy by adulthood. 

While some individuals experience minor reactions, others can go into anaphylactic shock simply by coming into contact with tiny amounts of peanuts.

Anaphylactic shock, also called anapylaxis, can happen within seconds of coming into contact with an allergen like peanuts. 

It causes the immune system to overreact and mistake the trigger for something harmful, leading to breathing difficulties, confusion, feeling lightheaded, and fast heart beat.

In Ms Baxendale’s case, the lawsuit states that she experienced ‘shortness of breath, difficulty breathing and swallowing, dizziness, wheezing, chest tightness, lightheadedness, increased heart rate, sudden weakness, feeling of doom and dread with accompanying terror’ and cardiac arrest. 

Medications like an EpiPen may be needed to stop the immune response, as well as oxygen and intravenous therapies. 

Anaphylaxis results in roughly 500 to 1,000 deaths per year in the US.